The Scare
by Jedi Ani Unduli
Summary: Their first mission back, but as usual nothing goes the way it should. Injuries are sustained, and guilt abounds - or does it indicate something more? Sequel to Dress-Up.
1. Chapter 1 An Incident

_Sequel to_ Dress-Up _. Suffice it to say, their first official mission back and things get... interesting. Part one of two._

 _Disclaimer: If only I didn't think up so many ideas... or allow myself to be distracted..._

Well, there went that break.

One standard day had barely passed when they received the call. The Jedi Council had gotten wind of a surprise attack the Separatists were about to do to a small fleet of medical frigates. The frigates had been shuffling around the known galaxy from fleet to fleet, taking aboard the more seriously wounded while dropping off those fully healed and kicking to get back into action. While not unexpected, the attack if effective would cripple their transportable medical supplies. At least half of their usable medical frigates would be gone, and that wasn't counting the higher grade equipment that their transports just didn't have the room for.

One hyperspace jump later, and they found themselves in the midst of a firefight. The padawans were dispatched to the nearest frigate to help the wounded and contain the fires. Anakin was going to pilot his starfighter to aid the defending forces, and Luminara was going to remain on the bridge to direct forces accordingly.

"Okay, we're entering the last frigate, Master Luminara," Ahsoka said over her wrist comm. Barriss and her had just gotten off their borrowed gunship. The frigate's landing bay was decently intact. If this continued, there was a good chance of this ship surviving for use after the battle.

"Copy that. Be careful in there. I'm detecting one heat signature that's steadily increasing in temperature, with the likely location being in the engine room," Master Luminara's response crackled back.

"Will do." Barriss's face looked solemn as she gave her response, and Ahsoka couldn't think of anything to counteract that. The heat signature could mean anything, really, but given the state of the frigate and the stated location, it meant it was worth checking out now.

"I will go secure those whom I can find behind secure doors," Barriss said.

"Then I guess I get the fun part," Ahsoka sighed. "See ya later, Barriss." The Mirialan tossed a smile in her direction before responding.

"May the Force be with you." The corridor sounded awfully loud with both sets of running steps echoing through the emptiness. The metal made the echo last longer, and so Ahsoka ran faster. The faster she ran, the less the echo annoyed her, or so she told herself. It certainly caused the gray color of the walls to speed past her, saving her eyes from having to look at more gray metal. And they said the _Jedi_ were monochromatic…

As she entered the engine room, she glanced all around, taking in the warning lights from the console panel across the room to the exposed wires on her left. Steam hissed from almost every corner of the room, covering the rest of the panels with a light grey cloud. The little roly-poly droid was wheeling around squealing frantically, obviously overwhelmed by all the chaos.

As disrupted engine rooms went, it could have been worse.

"Cooling system, cooling system, where are you?" Ahsoka murmured as she walked around, peering through the clouds of steam. She squinted as the clouds momentarily thickened. She didn't sense anything out of the ordinary, no warning from the Force as to whether or not immediate danger threatened her life as well as untold others on this frigate. There! To her immediate right was the control panel for the emergency systems, which included the coolant system.

Practically lunging at the panel, she began to press at the buttons. Frantically searching the screens, she finally spotted the option for rebooting the system and recycling the handlers. Plugging that command into the system, she waited as the console displayed the intergalactic symbol that showed it was thinking. Diagonal lines formed the outer contours to connect in the middle as an old-fashioned design. Some sort of filling was displayed being contained within the lines, but with every turn it went from one end over into the other.

In other words, an hourglass.

Impatient, she began to tap her foot as time stretched out into a crazy infinite stretch of boredom. Why did reboots always take so long to start? The ship had obviously suffered some damage, but there had to be a faster way to initiate the cool down sequence and recyclers for the air handlers. Finally, the image disappeared with a positive ding.

"Yes!" Ahsoka cheered. "That takes care of _that_ disaster!" She made for the exit when suddenly a squealing blur intercepted her path. "AGH – oh, it's you." She eyed the droid up and down with a critical eye. "Geez, get a grip would you? I got the coolant systems up and running, and the air handlers are cycling the crap outta here." She patted the top of its binocular-shaped head. "We're all gonna be fine," she crooned. "Get back to work and see if you can't continue fixing this ship, okay?" She exited the engine room as fast as she could, ignoring the whistles and beeps from the droid moving about behind her.

* * *

She almost collided with Barriss. Kark it – how could the girl with floor-length skirts and a cloak to boot run quieter than she? The Mirialan adjusted herself quickly – to be presentable – and said, "It's done. Everyone on the ship has been quartered behind the containment doors, with the exception of the pilots."

"Great; more beings who think dying is cool," Ahsoka quipped. "I took a look in the engine room. Looked like the only thing I had to worry about were the engines overheating. That's taken care of now, and this should be the last of the rescues."

"Well, this couldn't be any worse than our punishment," Barriss sighed. The floor then rocked beneath their feet, almost causing both padawans to lose balance.

"You _never_ say that!" Ahsoka hissed as she wobbled back and forth on her feet. "Never ever _ever_!" Finally regaining her balance, she pressed her hands into fists and set them atop her hips, spotlighting her glare across at her best friend. "I shouldn't be asking this, but you okay?"

"Yes, but that was strange. You did say you checked the engine room?" Ahsoka nodded vigorously.

"Yes, I di –" The floor shook again underneath before completely disappearing beneath their feet, this time tossing both girls up into the air. The floor came back up to meet them all too soon, causing a jumble of limbs, cloth, and bad words.

" _What_ is going on with the ship?" Ahsoka grumbled, pushing Barriss off of her.

"I'm not sure," a cultured voice said. "Perhaps you could enlighten me." A hand was held out to her.

"Luminara?" Ahsoka gingerly patted herself to make sure she wasn't hurt before taking the hand, taken up to a standing position. Barriss was already standing at attention for her formal master. "What are you doing here? We're not even done yet."

"I sensed something was wrong, and it surrounded the two of you. Besides, the rest of the Separatist fleet is now in pieces. Anakin is currently taking care of any stragglers."

"But there's nothing wrong!" Ahsoka protested. "We successfully rescued all the stragglers, got them behind the containment doors, and the engines overheating was averted. What could we possibly have missed?" A loud racket hit the air. Wincing, Ahsoka turned to look out the viewports. A hunk of grey metal was seen streaking past with a fiery trail before another racket hit their ears. It was Barriss's turn to glare at her friend.

"And you thought it was _me_ jinxing us," she growled. The Togruta's cheeks darkened.

"Well… I… well…"

"Enough!" Luminara commanded, running towards where they had last seen the fiery trail lead. "Let us go investigate." Ahsoka and Barriss hurried after. The Togruta was personally worried that she had forgotten something when last in the engine room.

"Ahsoka, Barriss," the comm crackled to life, Anakin's voice never sounding so good as it did then. "Be warned, some pods took off of the last Separatist ship here. I shot at them, but a couple escaped to impact the side of one of the frigates."

"Yeah, Skyguy, we know," Ahsoka snarked back. "We happen to be on that frigate _right now_!"

" _Kark_!" she heard him swear. "Luminara, do you copy? Can you reach the padawans?"

"I copy, Skywalker," Luminara responded. Ahsoka swore she saw the Jedi Master smile slightly. "And I'm already here."

"Good." He sounded relieved. "Keep me updated on what happens. They probably were carrying droids on them along with any number of Separatist personnel. Be careful."

"You as well. May the Force be with you." And still they raced towards where they had last seen the pod go. At least two rackets, and probably two pods to go with both. Any number of Seppies on them. Who said rescue missions couldn't be fun?

They were one hallway away from the engine room when they stumbled across two pods. Both were still sizzling, indicating that some part had been damaged on each, but not enough to stop them from crashing into their ship. Nor had it been enough to destroy the contents they each carried. Three droid commandos jumped out from the open maws of each of the pods, wielding their dark metal sabers.

"Oh COME ON!" Ahsoka shouted, igniting her lightsaber. The blue of Barriss's blade went on, as did Luminara's.

"We don't have time for this," she heard Luminara mutter, before, "Padawans, pick your targets. We need to make this quick." In the blink of an eye she had halved one commando and was battling another one.

"That's _my_ line, Master!" Ahsoka whined even as she complied. Being so close to the engine room meant that if the programming still worked, the commandos would head there to do some damage. Bye-bye, Jedi. She met one to her left that a few strikes made it into scrap, but the one that came almost on top of the first one was a bit harder to manage.

"Barriss!" she called out, seeing her friend struggle with another one in a similar fashion. "Let's switch." A terse nod was the response she got. She worked her way closer as Barriss did likewise, the Force acting as their communication bond. They didn't need so much as words as they did that sense of _the_ moment. That one, perfect moment where they would swap opponents and end these bouts to go for the remaining two droids.

That moment became now. With a sidestep, Ahsoka pivoted on her stepping foot to turn to face the droid she knew was behind her, simultaneously clearing the way for Barriss to whirl around and face backwards. She took out Barriss's droid with a clean bisection, whereas after two strokes Barriss had disarmed and then beheaded Ahsoka's opponent. Turning to look at her friend, Ahsoka grinned.

"And you say Anakin and I are bad influences on you!" Barriss looked back at her with an eyebrow raised, similar to her master.

"I'm not going to dignify that with a response," she replied. Before Ahsoka could say anything, the other padawan had cast her gaze around and, with a worried look, asked, "Have you seen Master Luminara?"

"No." Ahsoka responded. Sounds of fighting reached their ears from the engine room, and she traded worried looks with her friend. "Come on!" She led the charge into the engine room. As soon as she made it past the doorway, she saw Luminara embroiled in a heated battle with the remaining commando. Then she saw that it wasn't really Luminara it was going for. The droid, with all its intelligence and cunning programmed by too-intelligent beings, was going after the engine room droid, who was squealing away as Luminara kept herself between it and its attacker. Why it would go after the engine room droid became apparent when Ahsoka gave the scene another look over. The panel that she had used to reset the coolant system and air handlers earlier had been slashed; it was probably where the droid had been before a stroke of luck had saved its metal butt. Ahsoka had little doubt that anything was left of the panel that they could use. Several wires, connectors, and tubes had been either bashed or sliced open, and those she saw with a sinking feeling led back to the coolant system. Steam once again was filling the room, and now without the console there'd soon be no way to even do basic repairs to the system if the droid was destroyed.

"Padawans," Luminara commanded. "See if you can't get the Treadwell droid over to whatever panel is left for repairs. I'll keep the commando busy."

"Yes, Master," Ahsoka responded. Using the Force, she yanked the droid over to her. Turning, she found Barriss on the opposite side of the room, working on the only panel left standing. She ran over there with the droid, setting it down only once she was practically right on top of her friend.

"Ouch! Watch it, 'Soka!" Barriss whined.

"Just help me with Squealy here," Ahsoka grunted, shoving the droid toward the panel. It continued to live up to its name. "Oh shush! Just access whatever you need to so we stay alive." It beeped in the affirmative as its tiny arms moved all over the screen.

"Watch out!" Barriss yelled. Ahsoka turned around to see the commando poised in mid-air, saber ready to strike down at them. She raised her lightsaber, but frowned.

The droid was not going any further down than it had a second ago. She had a hunch, and looked back beyond the droid. Luminara's face was the epitome of concentration, hand outstretched, holding the droid in place with a combination of Force and sheer willpower.

"Ahsoka, Barriss," she yelled at them. "When I say, use the Force and shove the droid back my direction."

"But –" the girls chorused.

"Just do it!" the Jedi Master ordered.

"Fine, but this is suicide!" Ahsoka ground out. She joined Barriss mentally in the Force, and together they pushed the droid back toward the Jedi Master. Luminara appeared to release the hold moments before the droid would have been on top of her; she flitted away just before the strike landed where she had been standing. She tore her eyes away from the fight to look to Barriss and the droid when the look on her fellow padawan's face stopped her. "What?"

"You don't think that _that_ ," she jerked her head at the renewed fighting between Jedi and commando, "is enough evidence of your bad influence?"

"Just watch the droid," Ahsoka grumbled, clipping her lightsaber back onto her belt and folding her arms. " _I'll_ watch the fighting."

It would probably be better if she had joined in. Either the wiring was perfect on this model, or the programmers had figured out how to make the commandos learn by watching, because this fight was crazy. The commando had at least learned enough to attack Luminara, leaving the padawans alone, and the Jedi Master was keeping its attention appropriately focused. How long that would keep going was anyone's guess. Meanwhile, they still had a job to do.

"Barriss, how's the droid coming along?"

"He's almost completed, with just a few more steps to go –" Suddenly the droid shrieked and sped away from the panel. Sensing what the droid had detected, both padawans leapt after the machine, avoiding the subsequent explosion.

"This is crazy!" Ahsoka yelled. "We'll never get the ship fixed now."  
"Perhaps we could get the droid over to the bridge to reroute the systems," Barriss suggested. "It wouldn't fix the problems, but it would stabilize it enough to maintain those systems crucial for our survival until we can either offload the workers or get repairmen and droids on board to fix it back up."

"Then let's do that," Ahsoka nodded in agreement. Before they could do that, the lights winked out, being replaced by the burnt red color of the emergency lights. "This is not good," she moaned. Barriss gave her a look.

"Really?" she asked incredulously. Suddenly, the doorway looked to be at an awkward angle, and the ceiling closer than usual. Ahsoka looked down and gasped. The gravity had been shut off too; they were floating!

"If we're going to get to the bridge, we'd better do it now," she told Barriss, who nodded. Putting the droid between the two of them, the two padawans turned and used the Force to push against the opposite wall. It was slow to start, but they finally got enough momentum to start making it to the doorway. They got about halfway across the room when the unthinkable happened.

The droid commando was marching straight towards them.

Apparently, the commandos now had their feet magnetized to help them in cases like this, because it was reaching them. Given its strides, it was going to reach them faster than they were going to get out of the room. It must have planned the explosion, because it was closer to where they were than where Luminara and it had last been fighting. Luminara, meanwhile, was floating over in that general area. Alive, unhurt, but looking very irritated. Probably had something to do with the commando not buying the distraction anymore.

Ahsoka mentally reached out to her with her semblance of a plan even as she reached for her lightsaber. The commando was too close to risk remaining unarmed at this point. She sensed Luminara's acceptance of her idea before she uttered a single word.

 _Go_. What?

Too late, she found Barriss, the droid, and herself being speeded towards the doorway. She shook her head frantically at the Jedi Master, who didn't let up until they had hit the opposite wall. Then the doors began to close. As they began to slide shut, Ahsoka saw the commando's focus turn from their group to Luminara, and its beginning strides towards its obstructionist. The sabre was raised in mid air when the doors finally shut.

"No!" Ahsoka shouted. Scrambling frantically before realizing she was going nowhere (remember: no gravity), she let out a frustrated howl. Barriss looked worried but didn't say anything. The engine room droid beeped in a questioning manner.

"Oh hush!" Ahsoka kicked out at its rolling tread bottom, only to shout in alarm as it suddenly dropped to the floor with a clatter. Given the noises it was making, it was okay. It rolled back and forth across the floor. She caught Barriss's raised eyebrow. "Huh," she said, feeling sheepish. "I guess I should have thought of that."

"Either of us should have," Barriss said before wincing.

"Hey!" Ahsoka said. "You okay?" The Mirialan nodded.

"I'm fine, but Master Luminara…" Barriss trailed off, glancing towards the closed doors. Ahsoka caught her meaning. Guilt began to gnaw away inside, but she shoved it away.

"Let's get going. The faster we get to the bridge, the sooner we'll be able to help Luminara. Grab an arm." Barriss grabbed one arm of the Treadwell droid as Ahsoka grabbed the other one.

"I hope this will work, Ahsoka."

"Me too." She leaned down to knock on the droid's head. "Okay, droid. Head to the bridge, and step on it."

* * *

Hindsight was 20/20 for a reason. You may make a decision that you think is amazing and nothing bad will come of it, only for hindsight to remind you of all the glaring problems you missed. For example, telling a droid to speed on its way to the bridge while you hang on for dear life sounds like an amazing idea when someone you care about is in trouble. But hindsight points out that when you're in a zero gravity environment clinging to a speeding object – the only object around that can move with its personal artificial gravity – there are other obstacles to be considered. Such as low-hanging door jambs, door openings, and various parts of the ceiling that, Force only knew, were absolutely fine when you're standing up, but when the ceiling has become the floor…

"Well, Ahsoka," Barriss called out through gritted teeth, "you got any more _bright ideas_?" The Togruta winced.

"How was I supposed to know that we'd be floating _that_ high up?!" she protested. Having released the arms of the droid, they watched it as it sped around the bridge, accessing the ship's systems in its own way, whirring and beeping all the while. The bridge crew were hanging onto their consoles for deal life, faces pinched with anxiety. They were remaining abnormally quiet even now. Meanwhile, they were taking stock of the aches and pains that had been accumulated on their route here, which Ahsoka knew Barriss was never going to let her live down.

Better distract her.

"Felt anything recently from Luminara?" she asked anxiously. Barriss shook her head.

"After the pain that I sensed she had received, she blocked her end of the bond. I haven't felt anything since then." The Mirialan bit her lip, a sign she was seriously worried.

"Force, I hope she's okay," Ahsoka sighed. She folded her arms tight across her chest, and looked back over to the droid. "Come on! Hurry up, would you?" It beeped back a string of nonsense at her. "Yeah, yeah. Just be thankful we still need you around. Otherwise, you'd be scrap by now."

"Ahsoka!" Barriss exclaimed.

"What? He would!" She defended. Almost immediately, the emergency lights winked out to be replaced with the normal lights, and she felt the pull of gravity coming back. She landed on the floor with both feet, Barriss likewise had adjusted. "See? Nothing wrong with some proper motivation," she grinned at her friend. Barriss rolled her eyes but didn't say anything. Cheers erupted around them along with sounds of the flight crew scrambling to get back to their jobs – and seats. Just then, her wrist comm crackled to life.

"'Soka, Barriss, how are you guys doing?"

"Skyguy!" Relief flooded through her, even as the knowledge of what they had to do now filled her. Barriss looked over in her direction, and she nodded back. "Thanks for the help, droid!" she called out before they left the bridge. "Let us know if you need anything," she told the captain on her way out. "The droid should have the power restored to the comms now."

"Will do, sir," he responded. She took off running with Barriss from the bridge and down the corridor.

"Well," she slowed down to resume talking with her master as Barriss ran on ahead. "We just had a little glitch happen to the system. What about you, where've you been loafing?" She made for a fast walk. She didn't want to be far behind when they found Luminara. Alive, she told herself.

"Sure, Snips. Not like I was doing important work out here," she heard him respond. She rolled her eyes.

"Are the Seppies all gone now?"

"They are now. I'm docking in the bay as we speak. Hey, do you know what Luminara's up to? I tried her comm, but she's not answering." She froze mid-step, almost tripping over herself. Fortunately, she caught herself, stumbling feet-first onto the hard metal floor and soon was running again. "Ahsoka?" Damn it.

"Uh, yeah, she's in the engine room," Ahsoka said.

"Snips." He must have sensed something from her. His voice had become tense. "What happened?"

"Well, remember those pods that crashed into the ship? They had droid commandos inside, and she took on the last one so Barriss and I could get the Treadwell droid to the bridge for repairs."

"You WHAT?!" His yell echoed off the walls of the corridor, almost permanently damaging her hearing. She winced, slowing down.

"Look, Skyguy," she began, trying to reason with him.

"I'll meet you there," his voice said, short and angry. The comm went silent. Frustrated, Ahsoka shook her head. _Figures_. Starting to run again, she passed the final bend in the hallway. She slowed down, inhaling sharply. Barriss was standing in front of the engine room, her face a solemn mask. From the opposite hall she saw Anakin run up and join them. His footsteps echoed away, but no other sound came up to replace the growing silence. The doors were shut, but there was no noise to be heard coming from inside the engine room. It was beginning to get eerie.

"Barriss," Anakin asked, his face radiating urgency, "do you sense Luminara inside?" She hesitated before nodding.

"I sense her presence inside," the Mirialan said, "but I only can tell that she is alive." Better than the alternative.

"… Let's push the doors open," Ahsoka suggested.

"You do that," Anakin said, taking his lightsaber off his belt before thumbing it on. "You two stay out here; I'll go in and make sure the scene is safe."

"Okay," Ahsoka chimed in with Barriss. They turned and faced the set of doors, and establishing a point of contact within the Force together they put pressure on the metal. Creaks gave way to groans, and the groans became sharper and louder. Ahsoka almost feared that they'd crack the doors before opening them. As she thought that, the doors wailed one final time before opening, begrudgingly acceding to their demands. She saw Anakin rush inside, and desperately wanted to go in too. Once the doors were open fully, she made for the entrance.

"Ahsoka!" Barriss hissed at her. "Master Skywalker told us to stay _put_!"

"Since _when_ do I listen to Skyguy?" Ahsoka said with a shrug. "He should know that by now." Ignoring further protest, she went right up to the doors before looking inward. If she had thought it had been a mess before, it was a disaster now. Half the ceiling looked like it had been cut away, with pipes of assorted sizes lying scattered on the floor. Steam was escaping the room in clouds, yet obscuring still the majority of what she saw. Skywalker's blade appeared a blue smudge, held at such an angle that she guessed he was trying to see as well. Cautious, she traipsed after him.

Avoiding the mess as best she could, her objective to remain silent and unseen, she wasn't hearing the familiar whir or grinding of gears that signified a clanker moving about. Seeing the blue hue of the lightsaber heading opposite her chosen direction, she continued her slow progress across the floor. Seeing a mauled rectangular shape ahead, she went up to take a closer look. It turned out to be the panel they had attempted to access probably moments before their exit. Wires were extruding out, some forming a molten nest upon the screen. Chunks big and small were missing from various places, and judging by how much appeared to have broken off Ahsoka shuddered, glad to have missed getting hit. Turning away, she squinted against the clouds of steam, seeing what looked to be a bigger pile of exposed wiring, panels, and various debris. She edged as close as she dared, not wanting to trip and cause noise, or worse, a bigger mess. Step, step, dodge around the wiring. Step, step, avoid that jagged metal sheet. Step, step, step, step, avoid that downed pipe overhead. In trying to avoid the pipe however, something caught the tip of her boot, and she tipped forward. Swallowing a yelp, she braced herself, preparing for a hard, metal –

Soft, cool, and were those clothes?

Deciding to risk getting yelled at, Ahsoka rocked back onto her heels and ignited her lightsaber. Relief spread quickly.

"Luminara! Master!" she called out over her shoulder. "Master, I found her! I found Luminara. Follow my lightsaber!" She lifted the blade up fearlessly, keeping her gaze focused on the downed Jedi Master. Outwardly, there didn't appear to be damage beyond a bruise here or there. However, Ahsoka didn't see her breathing, and she was afraid to check for a pulse. Surely she was unconscious. She would have said something by now to reassure Ahsoka that she was alright. Had to be unconscious. A clatter was heard behind her, and she looked up, grateful for the help. "I'm so glad you're here. Can you –"

She stopped cold, bringing her lightsaber down into a defensive position.

The saber looked like the tip had been smashed off, almost like it had been caught and ripped out without any regard for stressing the metal. Given how its framework shuddered with each step, it was a wonder it could even move. The droid commando remained doggedly on task to kill its opponent. The programmer should be proud.

"I almost feel sorry that I have to scrap you, tinny," Ahsoka murmured. She waited for it to make its move. It appeared to be content to just sit there, staring back at her. The tip of the saber never budged. Normally, the padawan had no qualms about charging forth to take out her opponents. Given that she was now responsible to protect a downed Jedi Master, however; it was enough to scrap her general business model. She continued to watch it, sharp as ever. In the space of what felt to be hours, probably minutes, it never moved an inch. She grew restless. What could she do to provoke it to action?

"Maybe this will wake you up," she declared. Summoning her powers, she Force-pushed hard at the droid. It should topple the tinny… no. There it continued to stand. She had gotten some action in response – it cocked its head sideways at her.

"Dammit! Gravity generator!" Of _course_ it had one on it. How come they couldn't have known that beforehand so they knew to take this one out _first_? Her patience wearing thin, she weighed her options. One, charge at the thing and hope it would take her distraction over going for Luminara. Or two, continue to sit there until Master Anakin reached her. As much as she really wanted to do the first option…

Before she could talk herself into or out of anything, she saw a flicker of movement behind the droid and decided to take her chances. The droid still didn't budge, so she'd make it budge. Lifting up a hunk of twisted metal, she then used the Force to hurl it at the droid. "Catch _this_ , clanker!" she snarled. The droid bent over backward, narrowly avoiding a decapitation. It twisted back up with obvious effort; it _had_ taken damage with whatever Luminara had done to it. Good news; she'd still have to disassemble it, but with less effort. Hopefully. It took a step forward –

–and a blue lightsaber went through its chest. "Skyguy!" Ahsoka cheered even as she lunged forward to shorten it at the waist. Both halves clattered to the floor as master and padawan simultaneously withdrew their blades. "I'm so glad you found us."

"Me too, Snips. Say, didn't I tell you to wait _outside_?" His tone made that more a statement than a question. She winced, but waved that off.

"Yeah, yeah, but _I_ found Luminara."

"Yeah. Good work." All it took was a glance for her to see that something was bugging her master. He had that look, a combination of frustration and anger. She'd seen it before when either Obi-Wan or herself had gotten themselves into trouble – the dangerous kind. He had had it back on Geonosis, too, and not just when Barriss and her had pulled that stunt in the catacombs. Now there was another layer added on – annoyance. "What is that scraping noise?" She looked down and gasped.

"We forgot to carve it up, Master!" Their fault – commandos needed complete and total dissection. The commando's programming was good, however; it was crawling across the floor, one handheld at a time. Before either master or padawan could react, a green blade fractured its skull into a burnt black hole. The metal claws relaxed their grip for the final time.

"Luminara?! You're okay!" Ahsoka immediately kicked the droid away once the blade was retracted and came to kneel down next to the older woman. "How are you feeling?" Dyed black lips grimaced in response.

"Under the circumstances, I'm doing okay. Alive, at least." The Togruta frowned.

"But I couldn't sense anything from you. I thought you were –" she hesitated.

"Dead?" The question came out gentle. Ahsoka nodded, secretly relieved _she_ didn't have to say that word. "I understand. I was doing that on purpose. After the doors were shut, the commando completely focused on me. It had a gravity generator; I couldn't just push it away. It also had magnetized its feet so it wouldn't fly all over the place. I couldn't do much against that, so I did the next best thing."

"Which was to tear apart the engine room," Anakin interjected. Ahsoka could have sworn he showed a flicker of a smile.

"Exactly, Skywalker." She appeared to smile, but it looked pained. Knowing what she knew now, she reached out through the Force to get a sense of Luminara's condition. What she received back was not good. "While I made sure it got pinned down by debris, I unfortunately got caught up in my own maelstrom. Not the brightest idea. And if I was pinned down while it somehow survived, it would probably find me. I then entered into a deep meditative state to appear dead."

"Cool! Can you teach me how to do that?"

"Ahsoka!" Anakin snapped at her.

" _What_ , Master?" she responded, feeling defensive. "It couldn't hurt to know. And it obviously worked."

"Too well." He appeared to get angrier, and Ahsoka now felt more confused than defensive. What was his problem? Everything was okay now; the commandos were destroyed and Luminara was alive. "We need to get Luminara back to the ship, Snips. She needs a bacta tank." Right. "I'll get her there, but you need to take care of the mess she's under."

"Okay, okay. I'll lift up the debris." Ahsoka took a critical look at the pile of metal, and reached out with the Force. Tentatively at first, then growing in confidence, she gradually increased her hold on the metal, listening to the various creaking noises as she did so. She wouldn't want to miss a piece of metal that could potentially fall and injure Luminara further. Once she felt secure enough with the grasp she had, she looked down to Anakin and nodded. He nodded back. She lifted up as he pulled the Jedi Master out from under, quick and easy with the Force. Or so she thought; Luminara let out a groan as he set her back down on the ground, a couple feet away from Ahsoka but far enough away that she could release the garbage. Once she did so, the huge, creaking pile of metal back on the floor of the engine room, she rushed over. "Master Luminara, you okay?"

"I'm fine, dear. Merely a scratch." The look on her face said otherwise.

"Great," Anakin said, rolling his eyes and looked down at her . "I suppose you'd like to walk then?"

"If you don't mind." She appeared to be impervious to his glare. Then his glare changed to a thoughtful look on his face. Ahsoka shuddered. That was not a good sign.

"Or," he began. "I could just carry you." Ahsoka's eyes widened as a smirk grew on his face. "Like I did back on Ansion." The look Luminara shot his direction had enough ice to freeze him solid.

"No," she warned. Well, tried to.

"Yes." Placing one hand underneath her shoulder and another under her knees, Anakin scooped her up. The Force had aided him in picking her up as well as keeping her still. She now was being tightly carried up against his chest, one arm fully around her shoulders, and the other a full grip from underneath both knees. It was a mark of how hurt she was that Luminara did not utter a word of protest. If looks could kill, he'd have been killed ten times over, each more painful than the last. Despite that, Ahsoka sensed reluctant amusement leak from the Jedi Master. She became curious.

"You had to get carried by Master Anakin on Ansion?" Once she let that burst out, she knew she'd probably regret it. She got an initial glare from Luminara that relaxed into a sigh.

"Yes. I had to get the wool of an albino surepp in order for a tribal council to speak to us. However, after grabbing the wool, I accidentally slipped and fell. Your master, Barriss, and Obi-Wan had to come in and rescue me." As she had been speaking, Anakin was picking his way through the mess towards the door where Barriss hovered anxiously. Ahsoka was following, hanging on every word.

"How did you have to get the wool in the first place? _You_ don't just slip and fall, Master."

"No, _I_ don't." The tone was wry. "I had to enter a pen filled to the brim with surepp. They so filled the pen that they were stacked each right next to the other, back to back. To have a hope of finding the albino surepp, I leapt from back to back in search of it."

"And fortunately she had grabbed the wool before she slipped and fell," Barriss interjected. They had reached the doorway, and the padawan was diligently checking on her master. "Apparently, one surepp had a wet back from grooming."

"After I fell," Luminara continued, "Obi-Wan, Barriss, and your master came in on foot, picked me up, and we made it out."

"What?" Anakin acted outraged, the smirk giving him away. "You're not going to tell her how I carried you?" Luminara's face, pale green due to the pain she was in, darkened across her cheekbones. Ahsoka leaned forward eagerly. This had to be good.

"I was… out for that part," she said stiffly. The smirk grew across his face.

"I had you over my shoulder." Ahsoka didn't know if it was the words themselves or how he said it, her reaction was the same. She began to giggle.

"No, you didn't," Luminara scoffed. Barriss paused in what she was doing to tap her on the shoulder. "What?"

"Um, actually he did, Master." Luminara looked halfway between shocked and appalled. Then her face relaxed into reluctant acceptance.

"There better not be any pictures," she mumbled.

"Don't worry; there aren't," Anakin agreed. Ahsoka scowled as she thumbed her belt.

"Aw, come on!" she grumbled. "No fair! I missed out."

"At least you're here to see this one," Barriss pointed out.

"Lucky me," Luminara murmured. Barriss looked down at her master with a small smile on her face.

"Yes, you're lucky, Master." She looked up at Anakin. "You're okay to move her back onto the ship. And you're right – she will need the bacta tank."

"What did you see?" he asked, becoming serious once more.

"Fractured ribs, definite concussion, and there's shrapnel bits embedded in her legs and arms." Anakin nodded and without speaking further he pivoted on his heel and walked away. The padawans followed close behind. Thankfully, the walk to the landing bay was relatively short. Anakin turned around upon entry to face the two padawans.

"I'll meet you in the medical bay, Barriss," he said. "I'll take Luminara with me. Ahsoka, once you guys get back to the ship, make sure there's a clear path from the landing bay to the medbay."

"Copy that, Master." The ride back to the command ship felt like it took forever.

* * *

Anakin still hadn't arrived to their debriefing, Ahsoka saw. Barriss had just arrived in the room, but when she asked for Skyguy's whereabouts, she had shook her head, lips pressed tightly together. She was obviously worried about something, but only said, "Later," as a response. And she had thought the ride back was terrible.

Rex and Gree were already there, stoic to the untrained eye. Looking closer, the padawan saw worry creasing the eyes of Gree, and stress in the way Rex tightened his lips. They had been forewarned of the arrival and condition of Luminara, and they had alerted the Jedi Council of such. However, with Anakin not showing up, they'd ask about him. Ahsoka didn't want him to get into trouble, but what could she do when he brought this on himself?

"Let's get this over with, General," Rex said by way of greeting. Ahsoka frowned and nodded. The holographic communication table flickered on as he pressed the button to connect communications with the Jedi Council. The holograms of Masters Obi-Wan, Windu, Koon, and Yoda appeared.

"Masters." Ahsoka bowed deeply, seeing Barriss follow suit. The clones nodded their respect as she straightened. "We report success on the rescue of the medical frigates. Out of the original five, three survived with minimal damage, one lost the engine room, and one frigate was lost altogether. Crews are still picking up the escape pods from that lost frigate, but the general number rescued as of yet exceeds the general number lost. Repairs are being started even as we speak, and initial reports promise results within a few standard days."

"We commend you on your success, Padawan Tano," Master Plo said. He nodded in her direction, which she in turn acknowledged. A small spark of gratitude welled up inside. He knew her best out of all of them, and she knew he genuinely meant the praise.

"Yes. It is even more fortunate that we were given advance notice of this attack," Master Windu said. "Otherwise the damage could have been even more severe." He looked over at the other Jedi masters present. "Perhaps we need to consider an escort for the medical frigates."

"It couldn't be anything large," Master Obi-Wan said thoughtfully, stroking his beard. "We need the manpower for the main source of the majority of our conflicts. We could switch out their models with the fastest frigates we have."

"Assign a Jedi Healer we should, as well." Master Yoda's ears twitched as he spoke. "Good training it would be, for those wanting to do healing."

"An escort of fighters should be provided. They'd take up space, but not so much as to require a whole transport ship," Master Obi-Wan supplied.

"Where is your master, Ahsoka?" Master Plo asked. "I'm sure he would have ideas on how to solve this particular issue." She winced. _Almost made it without it being mentioned_.

"He is in the medical bay with Master Luminara." She saw looks being traded among the Jedi masters, and her stomach sank. _You just can't act_ normal _, can you, Skyguy?_ There was something to be said for when _she_ was commended for being an exemplar Jedi, and that something wasn't very nice.

"We had heard briefly about what happened to Master Luminara, Padawan, but not what happened to Master Skywalker," Master Windu said, looking directly at her. "Care to enlighten us on the details?"

"Master Luminara defended us from a droid commando in the engine room. However, during the fight, she sustained a grade 3 concussion, fractured ribs, and shrapnel bits that are being extracted even as we speak. She will be inserted into a bacta tank once her concussion has downgraded to a grade 1." Ahsoka bit her lip, reminding herself, _She's alive; she's okay_. Repeating it as a mantra seemed to help.

"And what about Master Skywalker?" Master Windu prodded. Ahsoka inhaled deeply.

"Master Skywalker took some damage from assisting with the rescue of Master Luminara," Barriss said. "When we engaged in rescuing Master Luminara, one of the commandos wasn't completely destroyed as initially thought. It attacked Master Skywalker trying to get to Master Luminara, and although it was ultimately destroyed he sustained fractures to his ribs." Ahsoka pretended that she agreed with her padawan's analysis while sneaking a peak. Her face was completely believable, giving credence to… whatever category this was going to go under. However, the Jedi Masters appeared to take the story at face value.

"And we're certain the droid commando is destroyed?" Master Obi-Wan asked.

"Yes, Master," Ahsoka said, taking back control of the conversation. "The techs are studying it as we speak. It appears that the one we had trouble with could be a prototype of something newer and more dangerous."

"We'll be looking forward to studying that report once the techs have completed their scans, Padawan," Master Obi-Wan said, smiling down at her. Given the twinkle in his eye, she suspected that he guessed at the real reason Anakin wasn't present. Fortunately, he was too kind to disclose that at the moment.

"Agreed. We'll contact you again within one standard day at this time," Master Windu finished. "May the Force be with you."

"And with you, masters." The holographic image winked out, and not a moment too soon. Both clones erupted into peals of laughter. Ahsoka let out a snicker herself, glancing sideways at Barriss, who looked back with a barely concealed giggle.

"What… I want to know… heehee," panted Rex. "Who's idea _was_ this?"

"Definitely hers!" Ahsoka said, turning to face the culprit.

"Definitely mine," Barriss agreed, a twinkle in her eyes.

" _You_?!" Gree almost choked on his laughter. "You sneaky little bitch!" In response, Barriss winked at him, causing him to laugh out loud again. The laughter commenced all around the four for a few minutes more. Finally, Rex wiped at his eyes, relaxing finally.

"I do have to ask… _why_?" he asked the Mirialan. "I appreciate it, don't get me wrong, but you're normally by-the-book." She nodded and clasped her hands together in front.

"I was going to kick him out," she began, "given he didn't have a good reason to be in the medical bay but… Luminara was lying on a bed, unconscious, ready to be placed in a bacta tank. And Anakin wasn't doing anything except just… sitting there. When I say nothing, I mean it. I was half-tempted to push him to see if he'd react. He was focused on where Luminara was lying, but at the same time he didn't seem to be focusing. He… just seemed lost," she finished.

"He blames himself," Ahsoka added softly. "He got into the same mood when you and I were stuck in the Geonosis weapons factory; remember that?"

"But he never really left that mood, in that case," Rex continued. "After that was Luminara's capture, the mind-control worms infesting your ship –" Barriss shuddered visibly, her complexion paling, "– and only after all that were you Generals able to get a break. And now this happens."

"Let's go see if us visiting him breaks him out of this… funk," Ahsoka said. She turned to Barriss. "Do what you have to do. But, thank you for doing what you did." The Mirialan seemed to gain some color again and smiled back at her.

"You're welcome, Ahsoka." Together, they moved as one towards the door. As Ahsoka exited, she could have sworn that she heard Rex mutter to Gree, "And you owe me twenty creds for that."


	2. Chapter 2 An Understanding

_Part 2 of 2. Enjoy, and give me feedback! I THRIVE on feedback! I also wrote an extra piece aiming to be from Anakin's POV in this situation. If you're interested, it'll be a bonus chapter to this. Let me know!_

 _Disclaimer: Give me Star Wars or... wait,_ that's _Star Wars?! What have you done? Good thing my_ fan fiction _is more realistic than that shit..._

Beyond what had been said back in the briefing room, the walk to the medbay was in dead silence. Ahsoka couldn't think of anything to say, and she knew it. Barriss was letting her arms hang, swinging back and forth gently with her stride, but she wasn't willing to say anything. Rex wouldn't say anything unless the silence got too uncomfortable, and Gree she sensed wouldn't say anything given how concern just rolled off of him in waves. The silence that accompanied them save for the echoes of their feet was suffocating.

While glad that Barriss had lied to save her master (who'd have thought?), Ahsoka was worried. Her fellow padawan would have to cover her tracks, and the sooner the better. The Jedi Council wasn't too nosy, thankfully, but if the report were to appear in the system later than expected, that would naturally raise suspicions. She didn't want her friend to get into trouble because her master (almost) never followed the rules. She glanced hesitantly at the Mirialan, who look back at her.

"Don't worry, Ahsoka," she said, being the first to break the silence. "I know how to file false reports without being found out." That made her curious, but another beat her to the question.

"And how, exactly, do you know this?" Gree asked.

"Yeah. _You_ actually pay attention to the rules," Rex chimed in. Ahsoka turned back briefly to glare at him. "What? It's true, and you know it," he defended.

"Doesn't mean you have to repeat it," she said, rolling her eyes. Truth be told, she was curious as to how Barriss knew this information. Definitely illegal and potentially dangerous information.

"Well," the padawan began. "I was good friends with a couple beings before they exited out of the healing program due to lack of ability."

"Wait," Rex interrupted, "so not all Jedi can heal?"

"At least not to the degree or skill that I can," Barriss responded. "These individuals had gifts elsewhere in the Force, and to have stayed in the healing program would have been a disservice to them. Before they left, however, they showed me various methods of disciplines they were more interested in." Her lips twitched upwards to form a smile. Small, but a smile nevertheless. That meant there were stories to be had. Ahsoka made a mental note to follow up on that later. "One of which included workarounds around the technology we use to document incidents." Ahsoka stopped walking when she heard that. She turned to raise an eyebrow at Barriss.

"'Workarounds'?" she asked incredulously. Barriss reddened slightly.

"Well… yeah. Workarounds." Rex and Gree began laughing, whether from the look on Ahsoka's face or Barriss's reaction to the question.

"So… you know how to hack!" Rex said, using that as a pause between laughs. "That is frakking _awesome_!"

"Wait until Luminara finds out," Gree laughed. "I bet she'll collapse from shock." His face twisted between humor and guilt after he said that. A normal statement under abnormal circumstances.

" _Anakin_ will be beating her to it," Rex said quickly, before awkwardness could completely set in. "While teasing her to no end."

"Speaking of Anakin, can you sense what he's up to?" Gree asked. Barriss shook her head.

"Not specifically. He's got his shields up. But… oh _crap_!" She buried her head in her hands, the yellow on her face becoming more pronounced with her greater embarrassment.

"What?" Ahsoka asked.

"Luminara is apparently arguing with him. I swear," Ahsoka saw her glare at her, "your master does his best to ignore what I tell him. Just talking. Did I say anything about _arguing_? No. I –" Both padawans saw the clones running towards the medbay. Puzzled, Ahsoka looked back at Barriss.

"Why the rush?" The other padawan shrugged. They both ran after the clones.

"Rex?" Ahsoka asked once they caught up. "Why are you running?"

"Because if the Generals are arguing, it could lead to answering the betting pool we're running."

"And we're not missing this!" Gree added, obviously stoked.

" _What_ betting pool?" Ahsoka squawked. When neither clone answered immediately, she huffed aloud. " _Guys_ …"

"It _may_ be related to the relationship status of a certain couple Jedi Generals," Rex finally admitted.

"Newsflash, _Captain_ ," Barriss ground out, from embarrassment or irritation Ahsoka couldn't tell. "There _is_ no relationship status."

"Yet," Gree said. Ahsoka saw Barriss shoot him a withering look.

"Why do you think –" she began, trying to keep things at a friendly banter level. That was when they arrived in front of the med bay. The windows gave them a clear view of the interior, not yet tinted by any of the medical staff – though they certainly had that capability. Anakin was sitting up front and two beds to left, and as they arrived they saw him leaning closer to plant one hand on the foot of the bed. Luminara looked all laid out on said bed, sitting upright against a collection of pillows, which padding her from lower back to head. Her face looked troubled. Anakin seemed to radiate similar tension. Their mouths were moving, indicating a conversation was taking place between the two. A heated one, if you factored in the body language screaming at you. Ahsoka glanced at Barriss.

"I don't think the medics are going to be found within a two-mile radius of this place." Barriss shook her head.

"They won't. I just sent them a message to stay away." Ahsoka stared at her as other eyes also focused on the Mirialan. She held up a small handheld device. "Pager, not the Force."

"Wow, Jedi can use real people technology," Gree teased. Ahsoka saw her friend blush even harder, even as she reached out to smack the clone. A joke she wasn't in on – yet. Another thing she'd have to ask Barriss about. She turned to Rex.

"Should we intervene?" Rex still watched the scene before them but shook his head.

"If we interfere, we could interrupt something important. Besides, I want to see what happens," he said. The smirk never appeared on his face, but could be felt in the undertone. It was her turn to smack a clone. He still didn't show his trademark smirk. Sighing, she turned to join him in viewing the scene before them.

Anakin and Luminara seemed to still converse, although more subdued than before. He appeared to be more sad and frustrated than angry, contrary to before. His position was gradually shifting closer to Luminara's position on the bed. That was no surprise. He liked to get up close and personal with those on the receiving end of his anger. His gestures were purposeful with his irritation, his shoulders shifted forward to make the gestures appear larger and intimidating.

It appeared to have no effect on the Jedi Master. Luminara looked to be more tired and frustrated, although Ahsoka was willing to bet it had more to do with her injuries than the conversation. She couldn't hear their conversation, and she wasn't great at reading lips. However, she did get the impression that Anakin was yelling at her for having done what she did. That wasn't special – Anakin yelled at everyone who endangered themselves. Because she was his padawan, she got yelled at twice as much. _Lucky me_. Luminara's response likely hinged around the obvious: she did what she thought was right, and it was all coached around Anakin's advice to her to be more reckless, et cetera et cetera. Anakin would ignore that and come back with something something you should have known better this time. Luminara would protest that, Anakin would come back at her, and it would never stop.

Which begged the question: why did Anakin give advice if he didn't like the result? She would see if Luminara could get him to give an answer; she personally wanted to make it to Knighthood unscathed.

She felt a sharp jab to her ribs; given the location, it was probably Rex. She shot the clone a dark look. "Frakkin' kark, Rex, what the hell was that –" He held a finger to his lips as his other hand pointed. She looked in that direction, and struggled to keep her jaw from dropping.

Anakin was holding Luminara's hand. Holding her hand. As in, he had reached out to take a hold of her hand. His head had shifted where she could no longer get a glimpse of his expression, but his shoulders had settled back. His feet touched the floor momentarily to shoot his seat position forward a bit, close but not too close to see the look on Luminara's face. Ahsoka wasn't sure if that was relief, happiness, or sadness flickering on Luminara's face, but she wouldn't be surprised if it was a combination of all three. She hadn't removed her hand, however, and hadn't broken Anakin's and hers collective concentrated stare. That meant that the onlookers wouldn't be noticed, which was good. Maybe it was the fact that they were Jedi Masters, maybe it was the previous history that had accumulated between the two of them, or maybe it still had that same effect of seeing your parents get all mushy with each other. Whatever it was, she could only think of one response.

"By the Force," she swore. "That can't be what I'm seeing."

"Then there's something wrong with the rest of us," Rex said. "Because I think we're all seeing what we're seeing." He glanced over his shoulder, and Ahsoka followed him to where Barriss stood. The Mirialan, normally in firm control of her emotions, stood with her jaw open and a scandalized look spreading across her face. "Gree, you might need to catch a padawan very quickly."

"Copy, Rex." He came up behind Barriss, who despite looking like one shade away from matching the sterile medbay walls turned to give him a look one notch above melting point. "Come on, Barriss. Relax. It's not as if Ahsoka or you don't have someone special."

"I _know_ that!" she snapped. "But come on, this is my _master_ we're talking about!"

"So?" Rex gestured with his head. "She's a human, she's a warm human being. Where do you think you came from, the monkey ward catalog?* Besides, who are you to judge?"

"But… they are –"

"Jedi Generals," Gree cut in smoothly. "And as their clone commanders, their troops, it is our obligation to protect them." Rex nodded at his compatriot.

"See? The bond of secrecy we share goes all the way up, Padawan. It does not stop with you. We have enough problems with the war as it is; the last thing we need is to have someone spill on every thing we do that's against regulation. Plus, as we all know it gets lonely up here. And loneliness is everything its cracked up to be."** Ahsoka felt a brief flash of pain from her fellow padawan before being quelled, and she sympathized silently. They had been taught how to deal with loneliness from an early age, but wartime had found a way to make it more penetrating than usual. Relationships, especially of the non-Jedi-approved sort, had become a obvious secret in every meaning of the contradiction. As long as no one flaunted it before the Council, every single eye possible was turned blind.

"So if something _happens_ to develop between the two of them –" began Barriss.

"We don't say a word," Gree finished for her.

"And we don't know anything –" Ahsoka started.

"About _anyone_ ," Rex ended. Together the four of them continued to watch the pair interact in the room.

"Well, we have about another hour," Barriss said. When all puzzled looks headed her direction, she finished, "Until I have to go back in and check on her, that is. To make sure she's medically cleared to go into the bacta tank."

"And there's cameras inside the medbay." A thoughtful look crossed Ahsoka's face. "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?"

"If it's what we're thinking, let's go!" Rex said eagerly.

* * *

The medical technicians weren't sure why they had received a message to stay away from the medbay, but they weren't ever going to be seen disobeying orders. However, by the time they were called back there were no Jedi to be seen. Also, apparently some footage had gone missing. That wasn't theirs to question either. But when it was medical supplies? The look on the Jedi Healer's face was enough to make them regret asking that question. But the next glance at the duty roster showed that leave had been extended by an extra standard week.

If the Jedi knew how to show appreciation, they understood how to keep quiet.

* MASH - Mail Call Three

** MASH - Mail Call Three (hey, it was good enough to use once!)


	3. Chapter 3 An Agreement

_Chapter Three is up! Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! I tried NaNoWriMo... and I got barely over 1,000 words. Oh well. I'll still work on that story. Meanwhile, here's the final chapter of this fun story. Thanks to each one of you for your support and encouragement. Enjoy!_

 _Disclaimer: Maybe I can win Star Wars from Disney in a poker game..._

Anakin sat on the edge of bed, oblivious to the activity that unfolded all around him. Two medics were in charge; one concentrated on taking notes as the other subjected the Jedi Master to a dizzyingly endless list of questions. He had cuts, bruises, but nothing that had required their attention beyond a bacta patch. Now he was ignored as long as he remained out of the way. Hands resting on his knees, hiding the sweat his palms were beginning to generate, he watched as Barriss joined the medics at the foot of the bed. Together they had helped the Jedi Master to a sitting position. Her back and head were propped up by several pillows. He almost smiled when one medic told her to remain awake and still for the next hour. Her response? "You put me on a bed, surround me with pillows, and _then_ tell me to be awake? No wonder Skywalker never listens to you." He'd have to remember to tell Obi-Wan that. _See,_ now _she agrees with me!_

"Master Skywalker," Barriss sounded unsurprised. "I was informed by Ahsoka to tell you that the debrief will begin in approximately ten minutes."

"How is she?" his response forming a question. Judging by the look on her face, any less proper and she'd be rolling her eyes at him.

"Reminder, Master Skywalker, you have ten minutes to make it to the debrief," she reiterated.

"Yeah, yeah, fine, fine," he said, waving it away. Who cared about a debrief at this point? _'We won – they lost.'_ End of story. It would take any number of days to finish tallying the casualties, the value of the ships lost in the attack, as well as request appropriate replacements. All of which was unimportant as of now. "How is Luminara?" Barriss sighed.

"She's doing better." His eyes focused on the padawan momentarily, and narrowed.

"Define 'better'," he stated. She sighed.

"Between you and I, Skywalker, that concussion needs to improve. If the symptoms do not lessen, I cannot in good conscience put her in a bacta tank. Vertigo and blindness are potential side effects if I were to do so, and neither of us wants to see this Jedi Master blinded by pure accident." Anger swelled within him quickly.

"So you can do nothing?!" he asked angrily. She eyed him, her stance becoming guarded. He didn't particularly care at the moment. What good was it to have the ability to heal people if certain conditions only hindered the process?

"Beyond taking care of her fractures with some healing, no. Rest assured that her ribs are mending with the patches, accelerated as I could do with the Force. As with most healing, it just requires time." She appeared to give him another look, before sighing aloud.

"What you can help with, Anakin," he perked up at the chance to do something, _anything_ , "might seem boring, but –"

"I'll help," he quickly volunteered. Better than being stuck in a debrief where he'd be wishing he was back here. She nodded in acceptance.

"Talk to her." She must have seen the look on his face because she continued rather fast. Not his fault it sounded ludicrous. "The worse the concussion, the harder it is to stay awake, which complicates further treatment. However, as I just expressed, we can't continue further treatment until her concussion symptoms get better. By talking to her, keeping her awake, you're stalling for time for her symptoms to subside enough for us to treat her as well as preventing further complications." He could almost hear the unspoken _and you'll be out of having to do the debrief_. It wasn't like he planned this. Any defensive utterances would have to wait, however.

Barriss pivoted on her heel, and in the blink of an eye was out the door. The two pieces of metal met together in a quiet _whoosh_ long after she had exited. He looked around the room, and seeing that it was devoid of organic personnel swallowed hard.

It was a similar feeling he had had when visiting Obi-Wan's bedside, particularly after the events on Jabiim. Like his master, she looked drawn, pale, fragile, and he was confident that her voice would also sound broken, weakened. Similar these situations were, but different in a way he didn't dare dwell on. How long could he talk to her without making an idiot of himself?

"Just keep me awake, Skywalker." Luminara's deep blue eyes opened to focus on him. He felt himself becoming defensive.

"I was working on that," he responded. It was a little too loud however, as evidenced by her eyelids and lips simultaneously drawing down. Guilt, his constant companion, was coming back to hover over him. "I'm sorry," he said, not surprised that he meant it.

"Sorry for what?" Apparently, she was. "You did not cause the damage to me. You have nothing to be sorry for."

"If I would have been faster in shooting down the fighters, I could have prevented the craft from penetrating the ship," he said. He could still recall the last transmission before he had touched down in the hanger, hearing Ahsoka's answer and feeling helpless… angry. "I could have prevented you being here," he gestured. "Being hurt."

"Probably," she acknowledged. "But now we're here. We'll just have to work harder to prepare for next time." Next time? What the _hell_ did she mean by that?

"If you think you're going to get away with another stunt like that," he began, tone rising in anger.

"What do you think is going to happen?" Luminara responded in kind, eyes narrowing. "I can't just sit by and let others take risks for me."

"So getting yourself nearly killed was the plan?!" he exclaimed, leaning forward. She remained in her seated position, openly glaring at him.

"Look who's talking. Weren't _you_ the one to tell me I needed to be daring, Anakin?" she rebutted sharply. He drew back as if she had slapped him. He should have known that was coming. Despite all his anger at her for endangering herself, he knew he was responsible for telling – no, encouraging – her to do so. It was his fault for endangering her like this. Within that knowledge came another problem.

He had barriers to keep most of the galaxy out, and for the most part he was successful. When certain people breached those barriers, such as Ahsoka, Padme, and especially Obi-Wan and Luminara, he became deeply attached to them, more so than a proper Jedi should. He could not, _would_ not lose any one of them. It was hard to communicate it in the right way to them, especially when they were Jedi. With Luminara around, it was like having a female version of Obi-Wan around. Add to that the return to Geonosis, rescuing her (again), and working with her seamlessly the last few weeks, and he realized he didn't want her to leave.

Seeing how grounded and centered she was had only increased his attachment.

Obi-Wan could calm him like no one else, including Padme, and Luminara (with the exception of this Force-forsaken stunt) had proved to be very similar. He didn't know how, but her mere presence was enough to keep him grounded. She quickly became another person in a handful of people without whom his remaining in the Jedi Order quickly became dubious. He knew what his master would say to that, but he had no reason to care.

On the other hand, would Padme care? The feeling he got was a yes, despite wishing otherwise. If he was honest, it hadn't been just this latest spat with Padme that was draining their relationship. Other incidents came to mind rather quickly – all of which had involved parts of the war that were dark and dirty. It was one of the few things he thanked his Jedi training. Without it, he wouldn't have been prepared for the harsh reality that wars couldn't always be stopped, that often there were reasons and grudges held by others whom, represented by their leaders, were as much in favor of the war as said leaders. That no matter how hard you tried, not all conflicts could be stopped – not when one side wanted the war to continue. From making a point to an attempt to gain more leverage, the reasons for war never stopped.

However, Padme could never seem to get beyond the notion that the Separatists – for the moment – wanted the war to continue, thinking that if the Republic kept trying for peace it would happen. She never was interested in hearing his perspective either – apparently the Senate liked to keep their idealized notions of warfare over an honest point-of-view of one of their top generals. The argument with Clovis had more so been just one more thing to add to their list of points of contention. No wonder she had been tempted by her old at least promised something other than arguing.

At the moment, though, she still appeared to blame him for his actions towards Clovis, judging by the lack of messages or calls. Not that there had been a whole lot sent to begin with, but there wasn't even anything waiting to be read on his end. Nothing. He had tried calling her multiple times, but those calls weren't connecting. By all appearances, she was shutting him out. And as much as he missed her, he needed someone to confide in, in this storm of a war. Like it or not, Luminara had become the default. Similar points of view regarding the war had brought them to more of a like-minded, unified position before their part in the battle to retake Geonosis. She had begun to open him up, little by little, and he found he didn't mind opening up to her more. He appreciated what they had at the beginning, and now he found he craved more of it.

But did she? He needed to find out, and to do that, he'd have to tread carefully – something foreign to his very nature.

"Anakin?" He removed himself from his train of thought to see Luminara looking at him. She appeared worried. "Are you all right?"

"I'm fine," he said.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean it like that." He grinned in response.

"Don't worry about it," he said. "I'll just take it to mean that you appreciate doing things _my_ way for once."

" _Your_ way?" Her tone was wry, but her lips were smiling. "I'll have you know that that was _my_ plan I followed."

"Maybe it was _your_ plan," he teased, "but it was inspired by _me_." She shook her head.

"You _wish_ it was!"

"Obviously it worked!" he smirked. "So what else are you going to do? Go one-on-one against Grievous? Or maybe Count Dooku? Because I've already got you beat," he added proudly.

"I've got to think of something else then, so I can avoid being compared to _you_ ," Luminara responded. She was still smiling, though, and she reached out with her left hand as if to smack him. Before her palm could make contact, he reached up and took hold of her wrist. Initially, his fingers grasped cooling skin (thanks to the cold temperature which the medics left the medbay at – jerks), but as they circled around to encase her wrist, he felt it. Her face flushed even more in response, and he felt her try to pull her arm back. His grip remained unmoved.

"W-What, what are you doing?" she stammered. He felt her pulse quicken underneath his fingers.

"Relax, would you? It's just an experiment," he said, feeling a smirk crawl across his face. But so far it proved his guess.

"Oh, and I guess my arm happens to be the guest of honor. Will I ever get it back?" she asked. Her face appeared to be a dark shade of green by this point.

"Eventually," he winked at her. "Relax, would you?" He studied her carefully, his gaze taking in everything about her, both external and internal. He sensed her confusion through the Force, tinged with a hint of… hmmm. He brought his gaze back up to her face, locking eyes with her. Anakin knew that he was not a careful Jedi, not cautious nor given to hesitation. He also had a tendency to speak his mind, regardless of the cost or the inevitable lecture Obi-Wan had in store for him. But he had to be careful now. She wasn't looking away from him, which was a good sign as any with which to start.

"Luminara, you're quite a Jedi," he began. That might have been the wrong thing to start out with; she looked almost ready to keel over.

"Anakin –" she tried to interject. He shook his head in response, and she stopped short.

"And you are one of the most powerful Jedi I've ever known," he continued. Afraid of what might happen, he maintained his gaze on her face. "But, as we've seen just today alone, you can be injured. I don't like that." He paused immediately after, seeing the need to rephrase that fast. "I don't like to see _you_ injured, Luminara. I don't _want_ to see you injured. It was like seeing Ahsoka injured – that can't happen again." Not the best comparison, but he couldn't say anything too soon yet. "I'm still really worried," he admitted. "Not so much because of your injuries now, but that you'd do the same thing again. If I didn't care, I wouldn't be saying this right now," he finished lamely. Hopefully Luminara didn't think that was too stupid to end with. A silence stretched out for what seemed to be forever. Luminara's gaze remained fixed on his though, and his on hers. Now, all he could do was hope.

"Have you ever thought," the Jedi Master began softly, "that maybe, just maybe, I don't want to see anything happen to you _either_?" Her lips began to twitch upwards, a choked laugh escaping. "You _idiot_." He let out a small laugh as well. He loosened his fingers around her wrist enough so she could begin slipping it out. However, his fingers tightened once the palm of her hand brushed against his. He held on to it, his focus still on her face, and she didn't show any signs of resistance as of yet.

"I'm the Chosen One, don't you know," he teased. "Nothing will _ever_ happen to me." Her gaze turned somber. He resisted the urge to shiver.

"I hope you're right," she responded. He nodded.

"Just… no more close calls, please?" he asked. Not begged. He didn't beg. Although it was coming close.

"No promises," she said. "Not to mention, if I were to give my assurances and yet you remained committed to your acts of increasing insanity, that would be rather foolish of me." She knew him too well. He displayed a grin in response; it didn't seem to deter her train of thought. "So let's make a deal: you and I both agree to stay out of trouble to the degree that we can, alright?"

"Okay," he agreed. She had agreed; as long as he knew that, he could breathe easier. And her wording gave him ideas for a workaround (the Chosen One couldn't behave if he was to balance things out, now was he?).

"I mean it," she said, her voice and face remaining somber. "Ahsoka and I, and Obi-Wan for that matter, can't try to keep ourselves out of the line of fire if you don't try and do the same. We care about your safety as well. So even if it's only for Ahsoka, you take care of yourself too, you hear?" she pleaded.

"I hear you." But it wasn't Ahsoka who was crossing his mind.

* * *

"Aw, come on!" the clones chorused. Ahsoka and Barriss both rolled their eyes at the overly theatrical pair.

"What? Mad they didn't say the words?" Barriss asked, and Ahsoka sighed. In hindsight, signing into the computer so they could rewind and watch the events that had transpired previous to their arrival wasn't a great idea after all. Ahsoka also had the suspicion that the clones, probably Gree, had been recording the playback privately. But it wasn't like she could openly accuse either one unless she had reasonable proof of such.

"No! How could they do this to us? The terms of the bet were _very_ specific," Rex stressed. "Besides, it's so _obvious_ that they should have just said it. Even a kiss would have been acceptable."

"They didn't need to," Ahsoka said quietly. She saw Barriss nod in agreement. Between the two of them, they had seen their fair share of relationships among fellow Jedi. Because of the Code all Jedi had to follow, any relationship had to be a secret. Since Jedi were trained to hide their feelings to begin with, each pairing had devised their own techniques in communicating in public view as to not be caught. One could even call it a type of love language.

Now, was it a formal declaration? Technically no, and even as informal declarations went it was debatable in her view. It was enough for her, and she could guess Barriss felt the same. However, she had a sinking feeling that it wasn't for the clones, and she had a guess as to what direction the clones were heading towards. She could say something, even a warning, but on the other hand, it would be rewarding to see those two _finally_ get into trouble. She loved Rex, but not that much where she'd step in to save him again. Besides, she needed to have some blackmail material on Rex. He had enough on her already.

"What are you two planning?" she heard Barriss ask. She joined her best friend in glaring at the two clones who could be seen whispering to each other.

"Nothing, nothing," Gree said over his shoulder. "Don't you have somewhere to be, someone to check up on?" Barriss turned her furious face towards Ahsoka, who returned her look with one of somber acceptance.

"Are we – shouldn't we –" her fellow padawan sputtered.

"No, no," Ahsoka said quietly, "we just – better to keep it quiet." Let the clones embarrass themselves for a change.

"True." Barriss must have caught on to acquiesce so quickly. "Otherwise they'll just escalate their antics."

"Probably," Ahsoka agreed. "But _we'll_ be the ones with the recording technology this time."


End file.
